Experiences of research assistants in the administration of culturally tailored psychometric data-collection instruments in the Kgolo Mmogo project

Abstract

The adaptation of existing psychometric data data-collection instruments are is often utilized utilised in cross-cultural research as an alternative to the development of a new data data-collection instrument for a particular population, as the latter may not always be a viable option. However, given the relative novelty of this practice, several authors call for further research in this practicefield. The research assistants’ subjective experience in the administration of culturally tailored psychometric data data-collection instruments in a South African context was identified as a silence gap in the body of literature under review. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the experience of research assistants during the administration of culturally tailored psychometric data data-collection instruments in order to broadly inform the practice of psychometric data data-collection instrument adaptation and cross-cultural assessment broadly. This study adhered to the meta-theoretical paradigm of Constructivism, while the methodological paradigm of qualitative research was adopted. Furthermore, a qualitative content analysis research design was employed, with document analysis of two focus focus-group discussions as a data data-collection strategy. The data was analysed by means of a theme analysis of the datea. The study found that the research assistants of the Kgolo Mmogo project experienced difficulty with regard to the language and comprehension of certain items of the culturally tailored psychometric data data-collection instruments. Their experiences also indicated the presence of culturally inappropriate questions, the presence of contradicting responses during the administration of the instruments, as well as the phenomenon of participants providing what they perceived to be the ‘correct’ response. Furthermore, the findings from this study suggested that the research assistants experienced the culturally tailored psychometric data data-collection instrument to have an informative and educational value. It seemed to informthat mothers felt informed about their children’s development, while it also served as a tool for HIV/AIDS education. Finally, the findings of this study suggested that the research assistants sometimes experienced that the assessment to placed an emotional strain on them. Their experience of emotional strain was related to difficulty with regard to role definition, as well as dealing with the often unrealistic expectations of the participants. The research assistants furthermore seemed to experience difficulty in relating to the interview-participant relationship. However, it seemed as if the research assistants’ experience of the participants’ spirituality rendered provided some relieve relief from the emotional strain they experienced during the assessments. Copyright